Loss of Power, Loss of Life
by TheRand0mWo1f
Summary: Written as an alternate sequel for the events happening in Season 1 Episode 23, "The Devourer". Spoilers for Season 1 up to (including) Episode 23. I might write an additional chapter which details the story from the other characters' P.O.V but for now the story is complete. Rated T for emotional themes.


Magnacat: Perfect. Everything is going according to plan. The devourer has absorbed his Dom energy, the machine works perfectly! Have a rest, kid. When you wake, you'll no longer have any powers left at all!

* * *

Jeremy: You've all been called here to discuss a very important matter, the decision of how to proceed from here on taking Zick's loss of his powers.

Elena: Hold on, just what do you mean by "how to proceed from here"? There's no way I'm gonna let you hurt Zick in any way, you nitwit cat.

Jeremy: Silence, this is not a matter for someone with such little influence like you to decide. Now, I think the best course of action will be, as difficult as it will be for all of us, to erase Zick's memories of losing his power and simply pretending all of his memories were only dreams or his mere imagination.

Zobedja: You can't be serious! After all he's done for all of us, you want to convince him it was all imaginary? That he didn't do any of these things? Besides, Zick has lived with monsters and ghosts his whole life, how can you expect him to live without them? It'll ruin him!

Greta: Zob is right! For 9 years we haven't been a family and now that we finally reunited you want to tear us apart already? Think of how Zick will feel thinking his dad is actually still stuck in the Amazon jungle, all while having fond memories of his dad which he'll believe to be "imaginary". How can you even suggest this idea? Have you no compassion?

Bombo: Me miss Zick. Me don't want Zick forget us.

Jeremy: I'm sorry to hear you are displeased, but I have made my decision. I'm the tutor of this detention oasis - and even more importantly - a maximum tutor, and so you will all have to obey the new rules regarding this decision, starting now.

Elena ran upstairs to Zick's room. Zick was laying fainted on his bed, unaware of the whole situation. "Zick" she cried "I did all I can to try and make Jeremy change his mind but he won't listen. All I can do now is simply to continue taking care of things in the monster world". She grabbed him and hugged him tightly despite knowing that he couldn't feel a thing. "I don't want to lose you. You're the only normal kid in this stupid neighborhood. I don't want to say goodbye, Zick!" She told him, upset and agitated. She continued hugging him tightly, sobbing and wailing without relaxing her grip. The thought of letting him go, knowing she'll never be able to talk to him as more than a classmate, a neighbor, a stranger anymore was too much for her to bear. The mere thought of living without Zick by her side was agonizing. The idea of always seeing him, watching him from afar, unable to get close to him, was simply _crushing._ "I just want this moment to last forever. I don't ever want to leave, to let you go!" she cried even harder, tightening her hug. "Please Zick, do something, wake up, don't let this happen!" she shouted. She had saved Zick's butt so many times, all she wanted now was for him to return the favor. At that moment Elena felt like that moment would last forever, as if it would never end. Elena felt as if time didn't move at all, as if the whole world - for just one moment - froze in its place. It was a feeling that words cannot describe. For just one moment, it lasted forever. Elena's adventures with Zick started popping into her head one by one, each and every one was as vivid as could be. At that moment, Elena was simply turbulent. She couldn't even begin to digest, to internalize the fact that all of her memories will now be nothing but tales of the past, existing only in her own memory. "I don't want to let go yet" she whispered to Zick as she held him tightly, repressing the fact that he can't hear anything she says. "I'm not ready to say goodbye." she continued whispering as the tears ran down her face. "Zick, you are the most important thing to me in this world, I would do anything just to talk to one last adventure, to save your life again, even just to hear one of your stupid jokes. I just want you to stay with me. Please, don't let go, not yet." She could feel herself almost unable to cry by now but she didn't want to stop, she just wanted to have Zick by her side while she still could. At this moment she could feel the bittersweet pain flowing through her veins straight into her heart. She hoped that this bittersweet feeling would last forever, she didn't want it to ever fade. There was nothing she wanted more than Zick staying with her right now, until she's ready, even though she knew she would never be ready. She knew that there would never be a proper moment to lose someone you love, that there would never be a proper moment to say a last goodbye, that there would never be a proper moment or amount of time for a last hug with a loved one. Once again she could feel - inside all this turbulence - her blood flowing through her veins, along with a feeling that cannot be described in words. Now, each moment was spent in complete focus on its own events, its own battles, its own feelings. Each moment was a moment of its own, and was to be treated as such. Each tenth of a second felt like a whole lifetime, and each second felt like forever. Time started slipping through her fingers, she could feel its pace slowly accelerating. "Zick. Please, don't say goodbye!" she cried, but by the time she finished saying that she could feel time resuming. It was as if someone unfroze the world and life went on as it did before, but not for Elena. Even though the world has carried on, she was not ready, nor would she ever be. After ten seconds - which seemed like an instant after the lifetime she had experienced hugging Zick - Zob, Greta and Jeremy entered the room as well, with Bombo standing outside.

"I think it is time you go now" Jeremy told Elena in a stark and desolate tone. She left the room and continued walking towards the exit. Everyone in the room was standing silently, looking at Zick without blinking or looking away. It felt exactly opposite of Elena's hug with Zick, what would usually appear to be an infinite amount of time in such context seemingly passed instantly, faster than the blink of an eye. They must have been there about five to ten minutes, all of them keeping their position perfectly still, unable to think or feel, simply frozen. Eventually Jeremy had used his power to fire what seemed like an energy ray in Zick's direction, erasing all memories that he may have had following the loss of his powers. They all remained silent and still for what would appear to be another infinite period of time in such context that, again, seemingly passed in an instant. Greta and Zob went down to the living room together, Jeremy left the room and continued taking care of his duties. Bombo entered the room, lightly stroked Zick's forehead and gave him a hug as a way to say goodbye. Bombo then left the room and regrouped with the other monsters in the detention oasis.

* * *

Zick woke up, feeling rather tired and a bit dizzy but he immediately skipped out of his bed and ran downstairs. He went into the kitchen and saw his mom making breakfast, "Good morning, Zick" she greeted him. "Mom! Where's dad?" Zick exclaimed, seeming a bit jittery. "Your father?" she asked, seeming a bit confused "Zick, your father hasn't been here for 9 years, you know that he had disappeared in the Amazon jungle a long time ago. Now sit down and eat your breakfast" she continued, visibly holding something in. "But mom, I remember how he was right here yesterday. I remember you telling me he never actually went to the Amazon and that it was all a cover story because you weren't ready to tell me that he got shrinked after his dom energy was absorbed when fighting Magnacat. Elena and I went to the Anguanes' place, where we found aunt Emily who eventually told us that the way to bring dad back to his normal size is by getting Mogalak the dragon's breath. After dad went back to his original size we continued resolving problems in the monster world. Come to think of it, the last thing I remember before waking up here is being trapped in Magnacat's lair. How did I end up here?" By the time Zick has finished telling her about his memories his mother was looking very confused and oblivious to what he's talking about, and Zick was a bit confused himself. "Monster world? Zick, I don't know what you're talking about but last time I checked monsters don't exist. Judging by these ludicrous stories it sounds like you had quite a crazy dream, but remember Zick, it's only a dream." Greta had a quick glance at the clock on the wall. "It's getting late, I have to go open the shop and you should head to school as well. If you'll still be interested, I'd be glad to hear more about your dream once I come back from work. Goodbye Zick." she said. "But mom!" he yelled. "Bye Zick!" she said, closing the door after her. 'I don't understand what's come over her' Zick thought to himself as he took another bite of his breakfast. Zick looked at the clock "Either way she's right about one thing, I better get out now before I'm late for school, I'll figure this out when I get home. He put on his shoes in an instant and went out the door. As he left his house and entered the street he noticed Elena walking ahead of him. 'Elena', he thought to himself, 'she must remember!'. "Hey Elena!" he shouted to her. She stopped and turned her head to see who's shouting. "Wait for me" he continued while lightly running lightly to narrow the gap between them. Upon reaching her he stopped for a moment and started to gasp. "Who are you?" she asked, scratching her head. "Oh, I know! You must be my new neighbor, Zick. Nice to meet you." she greeted him with a smile. "What, what are you talking about? We've known for several months now, ever since you moved here. Don't tell me you are part of this too…" Zick said, sighing and shaking his head. "Don't be silly, I just moved here a few days ago. This is the first time I've spoken to you. If you think this is funny, you should know your prank is hardly believable". "Oh come on" Zick murmured to himself, continuing to walk and eventually passing Elena. 'What's the matter with everyone? Is someone playing a prank on me? It wasn't just a dream, I know it was real, even if everyone think I'm crazy.'

Zick opened the door to his home. "Mom? Dad? Grandma? Grandpa? Bombo? Is there anyone here?" he asked, but no one replied. 'My allergies haven't been acting up all day either, that's strange…' Zick thought to himself. He went upstairs to his room, took his shoes off and put them in his shoe drawer. Upon opening the shoe drawer, every single one of his shoe pairs were there. 'I know!' Zick thought to himself, 'There's no way Bombo will be able to resist eating a pair of shoes unguarded, exposed like that'. He proceeded to bring his newest pair of shoes to the living room and place them on the carpet. "I'm just gonna leave this tasty, juicy pair of shoes unsupervised here and go up to my room" he exclaimed loudly and started going up the stairs. He stayed on the stairs and watched them for several minutes, but no movement or noise was made, everything was just the same. He sighed, going up to his room and laying on his bed. 'I don't understand this, everything looked so real, I remember it so vividly.' Zick thought to himself 'How could it all have been one long and elaborate dream? A product of my imagination?' He was furious, his life as a tamer, being with his father and mother as a family and his monster friends was all he wanted, it was all he could wish for. All his adventures with Elena, was it all a delusion? A fantasy? And Timothy and Jeremy, what about them? Are they not real either? Zick could swear he remembers Timothy for as long as he had lived. Is Magnacat simply a rich businessman who Zick wanted to believe is evil? It was all too hard to digest, it seemed rather uncanny that it was all a dream, simply impossible. 'There is one more thing I'd like to try' he thought to himself. He extended his arms, trying to use his energy dom, hoping a ray of energy would come out of his palms, but nothing happened. He let his head fall on his pillow as tears were starting to shed from his eyes. He cried, he believed it now. It all made sense now, he thought to himself, it's easy to believe your fantasy was real when you want to escape your boring, doleful, miserable life. Living this life, the life of the tamer, with his dad and going on adventures with Elena, would be far better, he thought to himself.


End file.
